


A Different Meeting

by fluffybun



Category: Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-18 20:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5941498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffybun/pseuds/fluffybun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Third Company come across an unusual girl while delaying their joining the Progress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [isloremipsumafterall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isloremipsumafterall/gifts).



> Thank you islorenipsumafterall for the wonderful prompt! Had fun thinking about another way Dom and Kel could have met. :)
> 
> Slightly edited the timeline of events in Squire to accommodate the traditions of the Shang Warriors. See notes at the end for more.

_459 HE, May_

_Haresfield_

“We were attacked by bandits two weeks back.”

“I’m sorry,” Dom said as he looked the man in the eyes. He looked tired. No wonder the men in this village looked tired, he thought. It must have been a big bandit attack – he had noticed the wreckages of some houses when he had entered the village.

The man shook his head. “We’ve been training, thanks to the knight that came our way a few years back, but there were some losses and some houses were burned. We’re doing the best we can, but we’d appreciate more help,” he said as he offered Dom the things he had purchased.

Dom nodded. “Let me talk to our Commander,” he said firmly. Looking around at the village again, he could see that while the village had clearly survived the bandit attack, they did need help.  

Finding Raoul, he relayed his thoughts.

Raoul gave him a grin. “Of course we’ll help!” His grin was like a child, Dom thought amusedly – he knew what was in his commander’s thoughts: helping the village out would also let them delay from joining the Royal Progress.

***

“We’ll need those to repair that beam in your house, Warren.”

He had seen the young girl – she looked to be in her late teens, by his estimate – helping the other villagers the whole time he and his squad had been splitting logs for houses. It was impressive, hearing such a young girl talk about matters of construction.

Fulcher whistled as he saw the girl then lift a sack of rice seemingly without effort. Dom himself was impressed – while the girl was taller than many in Tortall, it was still a feat to be commended.

Perhaps Buri should do some recruiting while on this Progress, he thought, filing away the thought for when he saw her next. She wouldn’t let Raoul be the only one to benefit in recruitment, if she was given the chance.

***

“While we’re here, perhaps some of our Sergeants will indulge us in a little training – I wouldn’t want Jon to think I’ve been letting you go to seed,” Raoul said this with his eyes twinkling, a few days after they had stopped at the village.

“He’d rather we catch up to the Progress,” dryly commented Flyn before chewing what was left of his breakfast.

All the men in earshot chuckled, knowing of their Lord’s dislike of the Royal Progress. Still, his cousin had mentioned in his last letter that the Yamani ladies that were accompanying the Princess Shinkokami were beautiful…

Flyn shook his head. “All right, men. Drills for now, while we’re waiting for the supplies to come.”

***

It was while the King’s Own were training that the village headsman came to see them. “Lord, there are spidrens in our woods.”

Raoul grimaced, before calling over his sergeants and Flyn, Dom among them. “How long?”

“We normally have our men scout the forest every day, but with the bandit attack, we hadn’t had time to scout in the last week. One of ours spotted some spidren sign just today.”

“Lead us to it,” Raoul said firmly, then turned to his sergeants. “Flyn, take half the men and guard the village. Osbern, Dom, Volorin, Aiden, Balim - take your men and come with me.”

Dom signaled to his men to join them, then told them what they needed to know.

“Some of our men have started investigating the spidren sign as well,” the village headsman said. “I’ll take you to them, they’ll know where to start.”

***

They were led to a small clearing deep in the forest next to the village, where many of the village men were talking to the girl Dom and his squad had seen the other day that had carried the sack of rice easily.

“This is spidren sign,” one of the village men said as he examined the stick the girl offered to him that had a small green blob on it.

“Yes, I thought so” the girl said firmly. “It’s fresh, so they’re close, I suspect. We’ll have to do something before they attempt to invade the village.”

Dom had time to admire the young girl, her hazel eyes determined in an attractive way, and then to admire even more her professional manner of holding her longbow before Lord Raoul spoke.

“May I see?”

The girl looked at them, bowed slightly, and offered the stick. Raoul touched it with his gloved hand and then had to scrape it off with a knife, attesting to its freshness.

“Where was this found?”

She gave a small rueful smile. “The sparrows gave them to me, Sir.” Two sparrows that had perched in a nearby tree took flight and flew around her then, before resting on her shoulders. “They’ll lead us to them, Sir, but we’re preparing our men.”

“We’ll join you,” Raoul said. “We’ve experience with spidren also, and we have blazebalm for their nest.”

The village men nodded, looking grim. “We’d be happy for your assistance,” one of them said.

Raoul nodded. “Dom, you and your men are on point with me” he said, then gave the other sergeants their assignments. He then turned to the young girl, his eyes curious.

“Young lady, what’s your name?” Raoul extended his hand for her to shake. “I’m Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie’s Peak, Commander of the King’s Own.”

She smiled as she shook his hand. “Keladry, but just call me Kel.”

Dom decided to take the initiative, since his Lord had already done so. “I’m Domitan of Masbolle, a sergeant in the King’s Own.” He quickly introduced his men in turn, who seemed surprised at the young girl’s calm attitude. He was surprised himself – stronger men were fearful of encountering spidren, for good reasons. Perhaps the village was used to spidren appearances, he thought, seeing the village men’s well-filled quivers of arrows and the spears they carried. Still, it was rare for a girl to take the lead in a spidren hunt, even though Queen Thayet’s improvements on the realm had led to more females learning certain arts to protect themselves.

She gave him a small smile before motioning to her sparrows. “Perhaps we should start, Dom, Sir Raoul.”  

***

This must be the fastest spidren hunt he’d been on, Dom thought, following silently behind Kel, who was noting the reactions of her sparrows. When the latest sparrows came back, they were quivering with fear – it was clear what was up ahead.

“Are you a wildmage?” He whispered it half-jokingly – he knew there was only one Wildmage – but he had never seen anyone other than Daine communicate with animals so well.

She smiled but shook her head. “They’re up ahead, Dom, Sir.”

Raoul signaled to his men. It was time to prepare for the battle.

***

When the spidren nest had been eliminated, blazebalm rolled into their lair and set ablaze by the mages, Lord Raoul sighed tiredly. Dom knew what he meant by that sigh – it was truly time for them to catch up with the Royal Progress.

Flyn rolled his eyes at Lord Raoul’s sigh. “You know His Majesty will have your head if you don’t catch up to him soon.”

Raoul sighed again before giving the orders to pack.

***

_Later, that day_

While enjoying their last meal in the village, Raoul and Dom noted Kel talking to the village men, miming the proper way of holding a spear.

“Perhaps she’d like to join the Riders,” Raoul said. “Buri would never pass up the opportunity to sign her up if she was here.” He exhaled. “If not for the rule that the King’s Own only took men-“

Dom grinned. He’d thought his Commander had always had a soft spot for Buri, the Co-Commander of the Queen’s Riders, though they weren’t courting.

“Will you talk to her?”

Raoul nodded. “Buri will never forgive me, not to mention we’ll need all the fighters we can get if Vagnet is right about what’s happening in the north.” He looked at Dom. “You got to know her during the spidren hunt, didn’t you? Come with me?”

“Of course, Sir.” He hoped Kel would agree to at least come with them to the Progress, so that he’d get to spend more time with her. She seemed nice.  

***

“So you hold it like this, then throw it. But if you let go of your spear, you need to retreat.”

They admired the clean form Kel showed as she then demonstrated the proper way to throw a spear to the village men before Raoul asked to speak with her in private.  


“Sir?”

“Kel, have you ever thought of working for the Crown? They all need fighters as good as you,” Raoul said.

She kept her face blank. “The King’s Own?”

Raoul looked ruefully at Dom. Dom took up the conversation. “The Queen’s Riders,” he said. “The King’s Own doesn’t accept women, much to our loss, but the Queen’s Riders do.”

Raoul nodded, then listed the skills needed by the Queen’s Riders. “You already are exceptional with archery and good with a spear, and I’m sure you can pick the rest up quickly.”

“The Queen’s Riders are a good bunch,” Dom said, backing his commander up. “For all that we play pranks on each other.” He noted Kel’s widening of eyes. “They’re very good at what they do – we often work with them.”

Lord Raoul nodded firmly. “We’re headed towards the Royal Progress,” he said, then giving a short explanation of what that was. “Buri and the Queen – they’re both commanders of the Riders – they’ll both be there. If you like, I’d introduce you to them.”

She gave a smile. “I’d like that, Lord Raoul.”

“Raoul,” he said. “I don’t stand on ceremony with friends.” He grinned. “If you’re coming with us, we’re leaving tomorrow at first light.”

***

“We’ll be well-fed in the Progress, don’t worry” Dom said, riding with Kel. His men wisely stayed silent when they talked while traveling, especially after seeing Kel take down Wolset in a hand-to-hand combat match one night when Wolset had offered to teach her some tricks for her impending Rider recruitment. Kel had apologized while the rest of the men in his squad had laughed – Dom had bet on Kel then, and had won money off Lofren. “We’ll be going at a snail’s pace, but at least on that front we’ll be fine.”

Kel smiled. “A very important condition.”

“You understand,” he said with a grin. “I’ll see my cousin there too, he’s a squire now. You’ll like him, I think, he looks like me, but I’m the more handsome one-“ he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

“I’ll have to see him to judge, Sergeant” Kel said pertly. Dom laughed, and then Wolset piped up “Dom here always calls his cousin mad, and from his letters to him we all agree with him. Imagine, being a squire at his age-“

He liked coaxing laughs from Kel as he related some of the tales his cousin and he had gotten up to when they were young.

“There’s be many knights and squires there, and plenty of tournaments as we go around the realm” he said. “Me and the men bet on the knights and squires we think will win – I’m hoping to make lots of money during this.” He grinned suddenly. “I’ll have pleasure betting against my cousin,” he said, “though maybe the Lioness has made a swordsman out of him.”

“The Lioness?” Her eyes were wide.

“Yes, though I haven’t had much letters since he started squiring for her. Perhaps she’s cut him with his tongue too many times,” he said. “I’ll introduce you to them, if you like.”

“Yes, of course” Kel said, her smile genuine.

Dom grinned. He was hoping that this journey would last longer than it should. Perhaps they’d come across another village in need?

***

459 HE, First Week of July

Much to the relief of Flyn, who feared the King’s wrath on Lord Raoul the most, they eventually caught up with the Royal Progress. Seeing Buri and the Queen with the Yamani ladies, Raoul signaled Kel, Flyn, and his sergeants to come with him. Giving his squad orders to unpack and prepare their area for rest, Dom then caught up with Kel, whose hazel eyes were sparking with good humor as she looked around the grounds the Progress had stopped on, bedecked with numerous tents.

“When Buri and the Queen see how you shoot,” he said to her as they walked together, “they’ll never let you go.”

“You think so?” Her smiles were wonderful, Dom thought.

“I know so,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind, I’d get to see you more often if you were with the Riders.” He winked, pleased at the slight blush that appeared on her face.

“You are a charmer, Domitan” she said finally.

“I hope so,” he said with a grin and he was pleased to see her blush darken.

“Raoul! I thought you wouldn’t catch up until Malven!” Buri’s voice carried across the green, causing many people to stare at them.

Raoul made a face, causing the Queen and Buri to erupt in laughter while the Yamani ladies looked confused. “Buri! I have a gift for you, if you want it. Else, I’ll take it happily.”

“A gift? Raoul, you shouldn’t have!” Buri grinned, feigning a swoon. “What is it?”

Raoul ushered Kel forward. “Here she is. Buri, this is Keladry. We met her in the village we helped, and she’s a good fighter. She helped us with the spidren’s nest we eliminated, you know, and she’s good with a bow. We invited her to come with us since you might want to recruit her to the Riders.”

Buri and the Queen took one look at Kel and burst into laughter. The Yamani ladies raised their fans to their faces, their eyes full of amusement.

“What? She is good. Tested her against most of my men, she beat them all.”

“Of course she did, you silly boy” Buri said. “Kel – no, Keladry of Mindelan, I’m glad to meet you. After all, you are the Shang Griffin.”

“And the youngest daughter of Lord and Lady Mindelan,” the Queen added in between giggles.

***

“You’re a Shang?” Dom shook his head. No wonder she was so exceptional with the bow – he knew Shang trained with weapons as well as hand-to-hand combat. “I…I-“ Shang came from all over, but- “

“You never asked,” Kel said, a small smile on her face. “The Yamani have a saying,” she said. “There is never a need to unsay what you have not said.” She looked a little embarrassed. “I… It’s embarrassing to announce my title.”

Dom shook his head. There was probably a story about Kel’s title – it was known that females in Shang rarely took on titles of immortal beasts – and he couldn’t wait to hear it. He just needed to calm down for a while – gods, Kel just kept impressing him. He felt his heart pounding.

Her voice was cautious. “Are you angry?”

“Angry? No!” He quickly shook his head. “Just… in awe. I’ve never met a Shang so young – younger than me, even. Neal would be jealous.”

She nodded. “Princess Shinkokami is one of my friends from when I moved to the Yamani Isles with my parents when I was six, since they were the ambassadors at the time. I’d been trained there by the Shang training master there, and she suggested I try so I started training. My brothers were knights,” she said quickly, clearly seeing his surprise “so my parents didn’t mind, though they minded that I had to travel to Maren to train there. I’d recently passed my Ordeal and come back to the Palace when Princess Shinkokami was engaged to your Prince, so she asked that I come with her. I stayed at your Palace about two months -” she paused before gesturing to her sparrows who were overhead, “I met the sparrows there and your Wildmage, and then we came on Progress with your other company. They came with me. When we were on the way, I heard from the Riders that Haresfield had some bandit trouble so I asked Shinko for permission to help out. That’s how I met you.”

“So you’ll be at the palace?” Better and better, Dom thought, since at least she’d be easier to find at the palace than wandering all over like most Shang did.

“Yes,” Kel said. “After the progress, Princess Shinkokami and the Queen has requested I continue helping them train the Queen’s Ladies in the use of the glaive.”

“Good,” Dom said, before grasping her hand. Callused hands, much like his, attached to a woman it seemed he wanted to know everything about.

Perhaps the war would interfere with his wish soon, but for now, this long Progress, he hoped to get to know Keladry of Mindelan, the Shang Griffin. Kel.

“Good,” she said, before her smile grew teasing. “I was promised a meeting with the more handsome cousin, I think.”

Dom mock glared at her. “I’ll get him, then I’ll let you decide.”

**Author's Note:**

> The Wiki says that the Shang warriors take their Ordeal in their late teens, thus my adjusting the timeline by about two years so that Kel would be at least 17 when the Progress started.


End file.
